No Arabic abstract
We report the strong dependence of resistance on uniaxial strain in monolayer WSe2 at various temperatures, where the gauge factor can reach as large as 2400. The observation of strain-dependent resistance and giant gauge factor is attributed to the emergence of nonzero Berry curvature dipole. Upon increasing strain, Berry curvature dipole can generate net orbital magnetization, which would introduce additional magnetic scattering, decreasing the mobility and thus conductivity. Our work demonstrates the strain engineering of Berry curvature and thus the transport properties, making monolayer WSe2 potential for the application in the high-performance flexible and transparent electronics.
The electronic topology is generally related to the Berry curvature, which can induce the anomalous Hall effect in time-reversal symmetry breaking systems. Intrinsic monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides possesses two nonequivalent K and K valleys, having Berry curvatures with opposite signs, and thus vanishing anomalous Hall effect in this system. Here we report the experimental realization of asymmetrical distribution of Berry curvature in a single valley in monolayer WSe2 through applying uniaxial strain to break C3v symmetry. As a result, although the Berry curvature itself is still opposite in K and K valleys, the two valleys would contribute equally to nonzero Berry curvature dipole. Upon applying electric field, the emergent Berry curvature dipole would lead to an out-of-plane orbital magnetization, which further induces an anomalous Hall effect with a linear response to E^2, known as nonlinear Hall effect. We show the strain modulated transport properties of nonlinear Hall effect in monolayer WSe2 with moderate hole-doping by gating. The second-harmonic Hall signals show quadratic dependence on electric field, and the corresponding orbital magnetization per current density can reach as large as 60. In contrast to the conventional Rashba-Edelstein effect with in-plane spin polarization, such current-induced orbital magnetization is along the out-of-plane direction, thus promising for high-efficient electrical switching of perpendicular magnetization.
In monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides, quantum emitters are associated with localized strain that can be deterministically applied to create designer nano-arrays of single photon sources. Despite an overwhelming empirical correlation with local strain, the nanoscale interplay between strain, excitons, defects and local crystalline structure that gives rise to these quantum emitters is poorly understood. Here, we combine room-temperature nano-optical imaging and spectroscopy of excitons in nanobubbles of localized strain in monolayer WSe2 with atomistic structural models to elucidate how strain induces nanoscale confinement potentials that give rise to highly localized exciton states in 2D semiconductors. Nano-optical imaging of nanobubbles in low-defect monolayers reveal localized excitons on length scales of approximately 10 nm at multiple sites along the periphery of individual nanobubbles, which is in stark contrast to predictions of continuum models of strain. These results agree with theoretical confinement potentials that are atomistically derived from measured topographies of existing nanobubbles. Our results provide one-of-a-kind experimental and theoretical insight of how strain-induced confinement - without crystalline defects - can efficiently localize excitons on length scales commensurate with exciton size, providing key nanoscale structure-property information for quantum emitter phenomena in monolayer WSe2.
Due to degeneracies arising from crystal symmetries, it is possible for electron states at band edges (valleys) to have additional spin-like quantum numbers. An important question is whether coherent manipulation can be performed on such valley pseudospins, analogous to that routinely implemented using true spin, in the quest for quantum technologies. Here we show for the first time that SU(2) valley coherence can indeed be generated and detected. Using monolayer semiconductor WSe2 devices, we first establish the circularly polarized optical selection rules for addressing individual valley excitons and trions. We then reveal coherence between valley excitons through the observation of linearly polarized luminescence, whose orientation always coincides with that of any linearly polarized excitation. Since excitons in a single valley emit circularly polarized photons, linear polarization can only be generated through recombination of an exciton in a coherent superposition of the two valleys. In contrast, the corresponding photoluminescence from trions is not linearly polarized, consistent with the expectation that the emitted photon polarization is entangled with valley pseudospin. The ability to address coherence, in addition to valley polarization, adds a critical dimension to the quantum manipulation of valley index necessary for coherent valleytronics.
Two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as graphene1, boron nitride2, and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs)3-5, have sparked wide interest in both device physics and technological applications at the atomic monolayer limit. These 2D monolayers can be stacked together with precise control to form novel van der Waals heterostructures for new functionalities2,6-9. One highly coveted but yet to be realized heterostructure is that of differing monolayer TMDs with type II band alignment10-12. Their application potential hinges on the fabrication, understanding, and control of bonded monolayers, with bound electrons and holes localized in individual monolayers, i.e. interlayer excitons. Here, we report the first observation of interlayer excitons in monolayer MoSe2-WSe2 heterostructures by both photoluminescence and photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy. The energy and luminescence intensity of interlayer excitons are highly tunable by an applied vertical gate voltage, implying electrical control of the heterojunction band-alignment. Using time resolved photoluminescence, we find that the interlayer exciton is long-lived with a lifetime of about 1.8 ns, an order of magnitude longer than intralayer excitons13-16. Our work demonstrates the ability to optically pump interlayer electric polarization and provokes the immediate exploration of interlayer excitons for condensation phenomena, as well as new applications in 2D light-emitting diodes, lasers, and photovoltaic devices.
The presence of two spin-split valleys in monolayer (1L) transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) semiconductors supports versatile exciton species classified by their spin and valley quantum numbers. While the spin-0 intravalley exciton, known as the bright exciton, is readily observable, other types of excitons, such as the spin-1 intravalley (spin-dark) and spin-0 intervalley (momentum-dark) excitons, are more difficult to access. Here we develop a waveguide coupled 1L tungsten diselenide (WSe2) device to probe these exciton species. In particular, TM coupling to the atomic layers out-of-plane dipole moments enabled us to not only efficiently collect, but also resonantly populate the spin-1 dark excitons, promising for developing devices with long valley lifetimes. Our work reveals several upconversion processes that bring out an intricate coupling network linking spin-0 and spin-1 intra- and inter-valley excitons, demonstrating that intervalley scattering and spin-flip are very common processes in the atomic layer. These experimental results deepen our understanding of tungsten diselenide exciton physics and illustrate that planar photonic devices are capable of harnessing versatile exciton species in TMD semiconductors.